TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — The spokesman for Libya's militia-backed government says the head of the government has been dismissed after an investigation into reports he had presented misleading information about government revenues. More »

By David Alexander FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Reuters) - The United States supports Arab plans to create a unified military force to counter growing security threats in the Middle East, and the Pentagon will cooperate with it where U.S. and Arab interests coincide, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Monday. Carter told reporters during a visit to Fort Drum in New York that U.S. military leaders who met with him in Kuwait several weeks ago thought that regional members of the coalition fighting Islamic State militants should be encouraged to do more if they were able. His remarks came a day after Arab leaders meeting at a summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, announced the formation of a unified military force to counter growing security threats from Yemen to Libya. More »

By Feras Bosalum and Ayman al-Warfalli TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - A Libyan state oil security force has called on state oil firm NOC to reopen the Ras Lanuf and Es Sider oil ports, the country's two biggest, after a rival force pulled out from the area following months of fighting, a spokesman said on Monday. "We call on NOC to lift force majeure from the ports so the oil companies can resume work." NOC had declared the contractual waiver in December. Storage tanks at Es Sider were hit by a rocket in late December, burning for a week, as fighting raged. The region south of the ports is home to several oilfields that were attacked in recent weeks by fighters loyal to the militant group Islamic State. More »

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt and Saudi Arabia are cooperating militarily to thwart a power grab in Yemen by Shiite rebels, but the agreement on how to deal with the region's complex and intertwined conflicts may stop there. The two countries' diverging interests were evident at the Arab summit over the weekend, particularly over the crises in Syria and Libya. More »

By Ahmed Elumami TRIPOLI (Reuters) - A Filipino was killed and eight people were wounded when a rocket hit the western Libyan town of Zawiya, a Libyan official said on Monday. A source with the forces allied to Libya's internationally-recognised government, based in eastern Libya, denied claims by officials in Tripoli -- which is controlled by a rival administration -- that the eastern forces had fired a Grad rocket in the direction of Zawiya or a refinery. Libya is mired in a conflict between the two governments, allied to rival factions fighting for control of the oil producer four years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi. Mohamed Khadrawi, mayor of Zawiya, a town west of Tripoli, said the wounded included three Filipinos, one African national and four Libyans. More »

By Ahmed Elumami TRIPOLI (Reuters) - A Filipino was killed and eight people were wounded when a rocket hit the western Libyan town of Zawiya, a Libyan official said on Monday. A source with the forces allied to Libya's internationally-recognized government, based in eastern Libya, denied claims by officials in Tripoli -- which is controlled by a rival administration -- that the eastern forces had fired a Grad rocket in the direction of Zawiya or a refinery. Libya is mired in a conflict between the two governments, allied to rival factions fighting for control of the oil producer four years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi. Mohamed Khadrawi, mayor of Zawiya, a town west of Tripoli, said the wounded included three Filipinos, one African national and four Libyans. More »

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - A Filipino was killed and eight people were wounded when a rocket likely to have targeted a refinery hit the western Libyan town of Zawiya, a Libyan official said on Monday. Town council head Mohamed Khadrawi said the wounded comprised three Filipinos, one African national and four Libyans. More »

By Mahmoud Mourad and Yara Bayoumy SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - Arab leaders at a summit in Egypt announced the formation of a unified military force to counter growing security threats from Yemen to Libya, and as regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Iran engage in sectarian proxy wars. Working out the mechanism and logistics of the unified force, an idea floated by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, could take months. More »

By Yara Bayoumy and Mahmoud Mourad SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of hypocrisy on Sunday, telling an Arab summit that he should not express support for the Middle East while fuelling instability by supporting Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. In a rare move, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced that a letter from Putin would be read out to the gathering in Egypt, where Arab leaders discussed an array of regional crises, including conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Libya. His comments triggered a sharp attack from Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal. "He speaks about the problems in the Middle East as though Russia is not influencing these problems," he told the summit right after the letter was read out. More »

By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis led the world's Roman Catholics in Palm Sunday celebrations by paying tribute to those killed for their faith, a reference to the victims of Islamic State militants. Francis, who earlier this month began the third year of his papacy, presided at a colourful procession in St. Peter's Square commemorating the day the Bible says people of Jerusalem welcomed Jesus days before he was crucified. In his homily during the Mass that followed, Francis, who last month denounced the killing of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians by Islamic State militants in Libya, paid tribute to those he said were being killed for their faith today. Francis has at times expressed alarm over the rise of Islamic State militants and the plight of Christians in the Middle East. More »

By Yara Bayoumy and Mahmoud Mourad SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - Libya told an Arab summit on Saturday that a U.N. arms embargo on the country must be lifted to help prevent the advance of Islamic State militants. "I say to those who oppose or delay the arming of the Libyan army that you are giving an opportunity to Daesh terrorists to flourish in Libya and to spread beyond it," said Aqila Saleh, president of Libya's internationally-recognised parliament, using a derogatory Arabic term for Islamic State. More »

Friday was the deadline for Mrs. Clinton to respond to a congressional subpoena for emails and documents related to Libya, including the 2012 attack on a US diplomatic compound in Benghazi that killed the US ambassador and three other American personnel. The subpoena was from the House Select Committee on Benghazi, chaired by Rep. Trey Gowdy (R) of South Carolina. “After seeking and receiving a two week extension from the Committee, Secretary Clinton failed to provide a single new document to the subpoena issued by the Committee and refused to provide her private server to the Inspector General for the State Department or any other independent arbiter for analysis. “We learned today, from her attorney, Secretary Clinton unilaterally decided to wipe her server clean and permanently delete all emails from her personal server. While it is not clear precisely when Secretary Clinton decided to permanently delete all emails from her server, it appears she made the decision after October 28, 2014, when the Department of State for the first time asked the Secretary to return her public record to the Department. More »

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - A rival Libyan parliament based in the capital Tripoli has ordered the withdrawal of troops loyal to it from frontlines near Libya's biggest oil ports, a senior lawmaker said on Saturday. The move raised hopes of a reopening of the ports of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, which closed in December when fighting broke out between forces loyal respectively to Libya's competing governments and parliaments. (Reporting by Ahmed Elumami; writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Kevin Liffey) More »

Forces loyal to a rival Libyan government controlling the capital Tripoli have withdrawn from frontline bases near the country's biggest oil ports, a spokesman said on Friday, raising hopes the ports might soon be reopened. A Tripoli official said the internationally recognized government and the rival administration, which have fought since December over the two biggest oil ports in eastern Libya, had reached an agreement to withdraw. Libya is divided with factions allied to two governments -- the internationally recognized one in the east and the rival administration in Tripoli - vying for control of territory and oil facilities. COMPLEX STRUGGLE Ali al-Hassi, a spokesman for an oil port protection force loyal to the official government, said the rival force had left positions west of Es Sider. More »

By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council expressed concern on Friday at the proliferation of arms and ammunition in Libya as it left an arms embargo on the North African state unchanged and urged the recognised government to improve monitoring of its weapons. Libya and neighbouring Egypt asked the 15-member council last month to lift restrictions on government weapons imports so it could better fight extremist groups after Islamic State released a video showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians. Libya has descended into factional fighting, leaving the country almost lawless nearly four years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. Libya's internationally recognised government, led by Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni, has operated out of the east since a rival armed faction called Libya Dawn took over Tripoli in fighting last year and set up its own administration. More »

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council on Friday unanimously approved a resolution on Libya that keeps in place an arms embargo which the country's Western-recognized government says is hurting efforts to defend itself against the rise of the Islamic State group. More »

Libya's warring factions need more time to agree on a unity government to end growing conflict and chaos in the oil producer, a U.N. envoy said on Thursday. Two rival governments and armed factions are battling for control of Libya and Islamist militants are gaining ground. Last week, the U.N. Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), mediating at peace talks in Morocco, said a preliminary deal could be reached in a few days. "I was very realistic, and I said we were making progress," U.N. special envoy to Libya Bernadino Leon told reporters in Morocco. More »

By Ayman al-Warfalli BENGHAZI (Reuters) - Militants claiming allegiance to Islamic State fought forces loyal to Libya's two rival governments in the central city of Sirte and further east in Benghazi, state media and military officials said on Wednesday. In Sirte, Islamic State militants killed five members of a force loyal to the government that controls Tripoli, a Tripoli-based news agency said. The United Nations and military sources said the attack near a power station on Sirte's outskirts was a suicide bombing. ... More »

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — The Islamic State group's affiliate in Libya said it played a role in a string of suicide car bombings that killed 12 people Wednesday in the eastern city of Benghazi. Meanwhile, its militants carried out an attack on a rival militia in the central coastal city of Sirte, leaving five dead. More »

Prior to the attack on the Bardo Museum in Tunis on March 18, three men were arrested in Tataouine for allegedly making plans to cross into Libya to join a terrorist network. Tataouine, which inspired the name of Luke Skywalker’s home planet Tatooine, is close to several sites where the movies were filmed, including the location of the slave quarters in “Star Wars: Episode I” where young Anakin Skywalker and his mother lived, according to StarWars.com. Star Wars fans have been known to make pilgrimages to visit these sites and others scattered across Tunisia. Tunisia is increasingly concerned about the threat that the Islamic State poses in neighboring Libya. More »

By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - International backers of Libya's rival factions must pressure the warring groups to work out a political deal and help to choke off the supply of guns to the country, a U.N. official said on Wednesday. The United Nations has been sponsoring talks to encourage the rival factions to form a unity government as a way to stop the conflict in the oil-producing country. "If we get a political agreement, the next thing is to convince the armed groups to basically back off," Claudio Cordone, head of human rights at the U.N. Mission in Libya, told a news conference in Geneva. The number of people now under arms, estimated at 100,000 to 300,000, was up to 10 times more than the 30,000 or so Libyans who took part in the revolution that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, he added. More »

Activists speaking up against abuses in war-torn Libya face reprisals from all sides in the chaotic conflict, and are increasingly being threatened, attacked, abducted and killed, the UN warned in a report Wednesday. More »

Militants loyal to Islamic State killed five members of a force loyal to the government that controls Tripoli and wounded two others in the coastal city of Sirte, a Tripoli-based news agency said on Wednesday, citing a military spokesman. Two military sources told Reuters the attack near the city's power station on its western outskirts appeared to be a suicide bombing but no more details were immediately available. Two governments and the forces that back them are vying for power four years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi. A group called Libya Dawn reinstated a previous assembly in Tripoli in August and the internationally recognised administration is now based in the east. More »

Two Bangladeshi citizens, among a group of foreign workers taken hostage by the Islamic State militant group in an attack on a Libyan oilfield, have been released after more than two weeks, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday. Foreigners have increasingly become targets in Libya's turmoil, where two rival governments are battling for control and Islamist extremists have grown in the chaos that followed Muammar Gaddafi's ouster four years ago. Up to 10 foreign workers were missing after the attack on the Al-Ghani oilfield south of the city of Sirte, Czech and Libyan officials have said. Helal Uddin and Mohammed Anowar Hossain were released on Tuesday evening and now staying overnight at Sirte hospital, about 700 kms (435 miles) from Tripoli, the foreign ministry said in a statement. More »

By Ayman al-Warfalli BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Islamic State militants claimed a suicide bombing that killed seven people at an army checkpoint in the Libyan city of Benghazi on Tuesday and triggered retaliatory air strikes by army forces. In a separate incident in Libya's second-largest city, where army forces are fighting Islamist militants, a rocket hit a residential building, killing a 17-year old girl and another person, medics said. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the checkpoint suicide bombing in a statement posted on Twitter. More »

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Militants claiming loyalty to Islamic State said they were responsible for a suicide bombing in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Tuesday, a statement said on Twitter. The militants posted pictures on social media of the attack and the alleged suicide bomber. The bombing killed seven people, army and medical sources have said. (Reporting by Feras Bosalum; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) More »